| First Author | Lucas B | Year | 2020 |
| Journal | Nat Commun | Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 2198 |
| PubMed ID | 32366944 | Mgi Jnum | J:292213 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6447601 | Doi | 10.1038/s41467-020-16041-x |
| Citation | Lucas B, et al. (2020) Diversity in medullary thymic epithelial cells controls the activity and availability of iNKT cells. Nat Commun 11(1):2198 |
| abstractText | The thymus supports multiple alphabeta T cell lineages that are functionally distinct, but mechanisms that control this multifaceted development are poorly understood. Here we examine medullary thymic epithelial cell (mTEC) heterogeneity and its influence on CD1d-restricted iNKT cells. We find three distinct mTEC(low) subsets distinguished by surface, intracellular and secreted molecules, and identify LTbetaR as a cell-autonomous controller of their development. Importantly, this mTEC heterogeneity enables the thymus to differentially control iNKT sublineages possessing distinct effector properties. mTEC expression of LTbetaR is essential for the development thymic tuft cells which regulate NKT2 via IL-25, while LTbetaR controls CD104(+)CCL21(+) mTEC(low) that are capable of IL-15-transpresentation for regulating NKT1 and NKT17. Finally, mTECs regulate both iNKT-mediated activation of thymic dendritic cells, and iNKT availability in extrathymic sites. In conclusion, mTEC specialization controls intrathymic iNKT cell development and function, and determines iNKT pool size in peripheral tissues. |
